Recall This Book

64 Brahmin Left 4: Adaner and John wrap up with Elizabeth

Our Summer series on the Brahmin Left, winding down as Fall approaches, was inspired by our bracing but terrifying interview with Thomas Piketty. It starts from the assumption that a major realignment (or, rather, a “dealignment”) from the class-based politics of the mid-20th century is underway all over Europe and North America–and perhaps worldwide. What caused that? Piketty’s explanation centers on the rise of the Brahmin Left. He maintains that Left parties have abandoned the working-class for an increasingly highly educated voter-base (as if on cue, Nate Cohn recently supplied this analysis). We spoke with Matt Karp, Jan-Werner Mueller and Arlie Hochschild and learned far more than we bargained for. Karp is among those who point to political changes produced by the waning power of labor in our post-industrial era; Mueller points to populist revival and ethnonationalism resurgent; Hochschild notes the breakdown in the narratives that succeeded in tying working-class white voters to Left parties in the 20th century. Other scholars (we spoke with Quinn Slobodian in 2019 for example) see in the Right’s recent successes the latest twist in a neoliberalism controlled by corporate elites. Now, Adaner, Elizabeth and John come together for a “wrap” conversation: what unites our three guests, and what divides them? Elizabeth ponders the series as a whole, wondering: what exactly do we mean by “the left” anyway, let alone the Brahmin Left? Listen and Read: RTB 64 Roundup Brahmin Left Transcript finalDownload Upcoming episodes: Next week marks the debut of a new feature. From now on, each month we will publish a short essay on the month’s big theme. So keep your eyes peeled for a Brahmin Left piece, hitting your browser three days into fall. And then…… October is Octopus Month (put away your chopsticks, please….). For starters that a terrific conversation with Peter Godfrey-Smith, author of the best book we know on the alterity of octopus consciousness: Other Minds. More cephalopod-themed material will follow throughout the month. Finally, all listeners and readers who are interested in the gentle art of podcasting are cordially invited to the inaugural Humanities Podcasting Symposium, held over Zoom, October 15-16. Latif Nasser of Radiolab will headline two days of workshops, seminars and discussions among scholars students and amateurs who have fallen in love with the pedagogical and intellectual possibilities the medium affords. Elizabeth and John will both be presenting. Join us! RSVP here

63 Brahmin Left 3: Arlie Hochschild (AU, JP)

Our Brahmin Left investigation was inspired by Adaner and John’s eye-opening interview with Thomas Piketty. Piketty maintains that Left parties have abandoned the working-class for an increasingly highly educated voter-base. This has turned (or perhaps only threatens to turn) Left parties all over the developed world from champions of egalitarianism into defenders of the privileges and interests of the educated. In this series we set out to ask how various scholars make sense of this ongoing realignment (or perhaps “dealignment”) from the class-based politics of the mid-20th century. We might call today’s episode a tale of the Brahmin Left and the Tea Party Right—since we are interested not just in the movement of educated upper middle class people towards traditional left parties like the Democrats, but also in the movement of working class and less educated citizens towards the Right and the Republican party. We could imagine no better companion for that aspect of the series than renowned sociologist Arlie Hochschild, distinguished emerita professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley. We love many of her books (see partial list below) but it is her 2016 account of alienation, anomie and anger in Louisiana, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right , that drew RTB to her for this conversation. She outlined the “deep story” of anomie and discontent among rural Louisiana residents she met while writing that book, and explored with us the political shifts that have made it much less likely for white poor voters to identify with a working-class movement or a progressive agenda. Links to other countries are explored, but the issue of causality–and the cure, if cure there be–remains an open question. Mentioned in the episode: Arlie Hochschild: The Unexpected Community (1973) The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling (1983) The Outsourced Self: Intimate Life in Market Times (2012). William Greider: One World Ready or Not: The Manic Logic of Global Capitalism (1998)Robert Kuttner: Everything for Sale: The Virtues and Limits of Markets (1999)Thomas Frank: Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? (2017) Listen and Read: RTB 63 Hochschild Brahmin Left Transcript finalDownload Upcoming In Brahmin Left: In late September, Adaner, Elizabeth, and John come together for a “wrap” conversation that looks back at the Karp, Muller and Hochschild episodes and what holds them together. In October: We declare October Octopus Month! For starters that means beginning the month with a terrific conversation with Poeter Godfrey-Smith, author of the best book we know on the alterity of octopus consciousness: Other Minds. More cephalopod-themed material will follow throughout the month.

62 Brahmin Left 2: Jan-Werner Müller (AU, JP)

This new series on the Brahmin Left was inspired by Adaner and John’s bracing but terrifying interview with Thomas Piketty. Piketty maintains that Left parties have abandoned the working-class for an increasingly highly educated voter-base. This has turned (or perhaps only threatens to turn) Left parties all over the developed World (US, Western Europe, Australia/NZ etc…) from champions of egalitarianism into defenders of the privileges and interests of the educated. So, how do various scholars make sense of this ongoing realignment (or perhaps “dealignment”) from the class-based politics of the mid-20th century? In this set of three conversations we set out to ask a set of related questions around that claim. First, is Piketty right? Second, to the extent that he is, how do we understand class dealignment in both Europe and America? Some scholars point to “post-materialist” politics; others to populist revival or ethnonationalism resurgent; others to the collapse of the trade unions which linked the working-class to the parties of the Left. Some even see in the Right’s recent successes simply the latest twist in a neoliberalism controlled by corporate elites. Today’s guest is Princeton’s Jan-Werner Müller, (Another Country: German Intellectuals, Unification and National Identity, A Dangerous Mind: Carl Schmitt in Post-War European Thought, Constitutional Patriotism) author of What is Populism? (2016) which explores how the identitarian logic of populism can come to lodge within democracies. Is the current success of the antidemocratic Right (in Hungary and Poland–and increasingly elsewhere in Europe as well) the product of “plutocratic populism”? Or is there some other more systemic maladjustment in Europe and America, whereby the ground rules for deliberative democracy have been skewed into a new stable shape, one that anti-democratic populist leaders have been able to capitalize on by borrowing from one another’s dangerous playbooks? Mentioned in the Episode Thomas Piketty, Capital and Ideology Our conversation with Matt Karp in episode 61 Our discussion with Quinn Slobodian in episode 11. Listen and Read RTB 61 Müller BrahminDownload Upcoming In Brahmin Left: In September, Arlie Hochschild (Strangers in Their Own Land) finishes the series off. Two weeks later, Adaner, Elizabeth, and John all come together for their own look back at the three conversations and what holds them together. In October: We declare October Octopus Month! For starters that means beginning the month with a terrific conversation with Poeter Godfrey-Smith, author of the best book we know on the alterity of octopus consciousness: Other Minds. More cephalopod-themed material will follow throughout the month.

61 Brahmin Left 1: Matt Karp on class dealignment (AU, JP)

This new series on the Brahmin Left was inspired by our bracing but terrifying interview with Thomas Piketty. So what even is the Brahmin Left? There seems to be little disagreement that a major realignment (or, rather, a “dealignment”) from the class-based politics of the mid-20th century is underway all over Europe and North America–and perhaps worldwide. Some scholars point to “post-materialist” politics; others to populist revival or ethno-nationalism resurgent; others to the collapse of the trade unions which linked the working-class to the parties of the Left. Some even see in the Right’s recent successes simply the latest twist in a neoliberalism controlled by corporate elites. Piketty’s explanation, though, centers on the rise of the Brahmin Left. He maintains that Left parties have abandoned the working-class for an increasingly highly educated voter-base. This has turned Left parties from champions of egalitarianism into defenders of the privileges and interests of the educated. In this set of three conversations we set out to ask a set of related questions around that claim. First, is Piketty right? (For example, some authors have argued that Piketty lumps new parties like the Greens into ‘the Left’, which biases his calculations.) Second, to the extent that he is, how do we understand class dealignment? Why has the educated upper middle class moved towards traditional left parties like the Democrats? And why have white working-class voters moved towards the Right and the Republican party? Which is chicken and which is egg? We are delighted to begin the Brahmin Left series with Matt Karp, historian at Princeton, author of This Vast Southern Empire and a perennially thought-provoking essayist about the complex 19th and 20th century genealogies of contemporary American politics: “The Politics of a Second Gilded Age” is the essay that links most closely to this conversation. Mentioned in the Discussion Thomas Piketty, Capital and Ideology Lily Geismer, Don’t Blame Us: Suburban Liberals and the Transformation of the Democratic Party Dylan Riley, “Faultlines” (New Left Review, 2020) Listen and Read RTB 60 Karp TranscriptDownload Next up In Brahmin Left: Jan-Werner Muller (What is Populism?) and Arlie Hochschild (Strangers in Their Own Land) add their own prognostications. Which are, as always, some mix of dire and hopeful. In other news, Recall this Book is a founding member of a new organization designed to bring together scholars, teachers and students who think that the future of the humanities is oral and aural. If you have always dreamed of starting your own podcast, or if you are an educator who has thought about using podcasting in a classroom–either by teaching episodes or by encouraging students to make their own!–please consider attending our inaugural Humanities Podcasting Symposium this October 15-16 (Zoom/virtual).

60 Sean Hill on Bodies in Space and Time (EF, EB)

Elizabeth is joined by Elizabeth Bradfield, poet, naturalist and professor of poetry at Brandeis, in a conversation with the poet Sean Hill, author of Blood Ties and Brown Liquor (2008) and Dangerous Goods (2014). Sean read his “Musica Universalis in Fairbanks,” (it appeared in the Alaska Quarterly Review) and then, like someone seated in an archive turning over the pages of aged and delicate documents, unfolded his ideas about birds, borders, houses and “who was here before me.” Mentioned in This Episode: C.S. Giscombe, Into and Out of Dislocation C.S. Giscombe, Giscome Road Lorine Neidecker, Lake Superior Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities Anne Carson, Plainwater William Vollmann, The Ice-Shirt Listen and Read: 60 Sean Hill on Bodies in Space and Time Upcoming Episodes: RtB will take a brief summer break. What that actually means is that John and Adaner will go on interviewing folks for our upcoming series on the Brahmin Left, inspired by our bracing but terrifying interview with Thomas Piketty. Matt Karp (This Vast Southern Empire) and Jan-Werner Muller (What is Populism?) have already added their own dire (though also hopeful) prognostications. In other news, Recall this Book is a founding member of a new organization designed to bring together scholars, teachers and students who think that the future of the humanities is oral and aural. If you have always dreamed of starting your own podcast, or if you are an educator who has thought about using podcasting in a classroom–either by teaching episodes or by encouraging students to make their own!–please consider attending our inaugural Humanities Podcasting Symposium this October 15-16 (Zoom/virtual). It is NOT too late to put your name forward to make a presentation at the Symposium: use this survey by July 15th.